Whats the better dac ??

TALON1973

TALON1973

TALON1973

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Need some help on this one as i'm stumped ......

I've got an arcam irdac and until recently my main blu ray player was a ps4 ( hi-fi was through pc ) .

Now I picked up an arcam bdp300 blu ray player 3 week ago , for combined hi-fi / blu ray use. On auto pilot I just connected up the irdac to blu ray drive ... hi-fi is amazing on this player btw.

But ive been wondering ...... which or my 2 arcams is the better dac ?

the bdp300 is using Wolfson Audio 8741

and the irdac has Burr Brown 1796 DAC

tbh I don't know which one is supposed to be better .... I just assumed the irdac is better as its a dedicated dac...

Any opinions ?
 
Just one point, it's invariably NOT about the silicon chip in question.
My experience is that bits around the chip have a lot more impact upon actual sound quality, i.e.
- The clocks (ensuring the timing is right)
- PSUs
- Analogue output stage
- Mechanicals (sure, it's not a huge game changer, but I do believe that mechanical build can influence the AQ by preventing some vibrations of components)

As already said, go listen.
Even if we had heard the two ourselves, you'd still be right to make a decision based upon your listening and not on ours.
 
Being a bit thick, but can't see the point in being such an expensive bluray player?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but to gain the benefit of the high quality analogue, you have to plug speakers directly into the bluray player (i.e. only 2.0 speakers) - therefore you can't have surround sound?

Not sure why you wouldn't just buy a decent AV Receiver / Hifi Amp - and get all the benefits of decent DACs, as well as being able to connect to multiple sources? You can then use almost any bluray player, with digital connections and no loss of quality?

Not trying to start an argument or anything, but I genuinely don't understand what benefit you get from this audiophile grade equipment, so welcome any discussion.
 
Uncle Petey said:
Through digital output, I have no idea.

Where would speakers be plugged in and what would power them?
Click to expand...

Having googled them - I assume the red/white phono connectors on the back of both of the OP's products. As for power, I have no idea.

Hence my confusion with these "audiophile" products - just wanted to gain a bit of knowledge
 
It's all good, I'm curious as to how the internal DAC makes a difference for movies when using any of the digital outputs too.
I can see how it would if using the stereo analogues to an amp for 2-channel use.
 
Sorry I should have clarified abit clearer .... the point of having the arcam was A.... to improve on overall quality against my ps4 and B....... to have a top notch disc spinner for music.

I'm using a graham Slee srg11 headphone amp with Sennheiser hd700 headphones , so I was more concerned with the music side of it. With the nice part of me also having good movie options :)

The setup is thus atm .... arcam blu ray player ....coaxial feed into dac .... dac into headphone amp
 
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i have the wolfson dac in my cd player, I think it is held in slightly higher regard than the BB, but both have their fans.
 
This is a very silly question. You won't be able to hear the differences. Also two implementations of the same IC can perform differently so two different ICs in two different configurations is pointless.

Vibration is audiophile rubbish. It's funny how missiles travelling a few times the speed of sound can still hit a target within a meter. It's also funny how I'm in my 4th year of an Electronic Engineering degree at a great Uni and how we have gone through more circuit development techniques than I can possibly remember and vibration hasn't even crossed any Professors mind.
 
Vibration isn't the issue ... its SQ i'm more concerned with . I'll have to dig out another pair of interconnect to I can play 2 inputs the same time and switch
 
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Armageus said:
Being a bit thick, but can't see the point in being such an expensive bluray player?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but to gain the benefit of the high quality analogue, you have to plug speakers directly into the bluray player (i.e. only 2.0 speakers) - therefore you can't have surround sound?

Not sure why you wouldn't just buy a decent AV Receiver / Hifi Amp - and get all the benefits of decent DACs, as well as being able to connect to multiple sources? You can then use almost any bluray player, with digital connections and no loss of quality?

Not trying to start an argument or anything, but I genuinely don't understand what benefit you get from this audiophile grade equipment, so welcome any discussion.
Click to expand...

This kind of machine is for the person who wants a Hi-Fi grade CD player and a Blu-ray player in one box. The appeal will be lost on anyone who hasn't got the sort of 'audio first' grade Hi-Fi/AV gear that the likes of Arcam, Naim, Linn and others make.

Each stage of the process from disc reading through internal processing and the individual power supply stages that go with each step is optimised. Think of it in terms of graphics cards. The average person wouldn't be able to tell the difference between in-built or a separate card costing £200-£400 or more. Even if they could, then asking them to spend that kind of money is a waste of time. It's not their passion. For them, the built-in graphics chip does okay. It's the same with using a basic Blu-ray player for an audio source. As far as many folk are concerned it does just fine.
 
lucid said:
This kind of machine is for the person who wants a Hi-Fi grade CD player and a Blu-ray player in one box. The appeal will be lost on anyone who hasn't got the sort of 'audio first' grade Hi-Fi/AV gear that the likes of Arcam, Naim, Linn and others make.

Each stage of the process from disc reading through internal processing and the individual power supply stages that go with each step is optimised. Think of it in terms of graphics cards. The average person wouldn't be able to tell the difference between in-built or a separate card costing £200-£400 or more. Even if they could, then asking them to spend that kind of money is a waste of time. It's not their passion. For them, the built-in graphics chip does okay. It's the same with using a basic Blu-ray player for an audio source. As far as many folk are concerned it does just fine.
Click to expand...

Nicely put lucid :)

And while my set-up is still what some would class hi-end , it's a joy to own equipment like this, It's also a crying shame that about 95% of people these days really don't know how good their music can sound. The mp3 generation has killed music :(

Going back to old cd's and playing them for the first time in years is a breath of fresh air. And you pick up so much of what's going on with a song if you have a headphone setp . Not listened to Whitney Houston in years , but liked her 80's / early 90's . Play the greatest hits I picked up last week is a joy to the ears. And anything with Michael Jackson is just brilliant. :cool:
 
lucid said:
The appeal will be lost on anyone who hasn't got the sort of 'audio first' grade Hi-Fi/AV gear that the likes of Arcam, Naim, Linn and others make.
Click to expand...

Not sure the appeal is lost on me - I aspire to own high end products, but can't always justify spending huge sums of money for tiny differences. In your graphics card analogy - I have a 7850, as I can justify anything better at the minute, and the quality/performance is acceptable. If I could justify spending £300 or whatever on a R290X or whatever is considered high end then I would.

lucid said:
Each stage of the process from disc reading through internal processing and the individual power supply stages that go with each step is optimised ... It's the same with using a basic Blu-ray player for an audio source. As far as many folk are concerned it does just fine.
Click to expand...

Not sure how you can optimise a blu-ray player other than the analogue output side already mentioned. Blu-ray data (or dvd's or even cd's) is digital, it is either read or not, you can't make it read the disc any better.

For most people a £50 blu-ray plugged into a decent amp/receiver would provide exactly the same audio quality, as well as providing flexibility with regards to more than 1 input.
 
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